Tom Riddle and the Chamber of Secrets
by Queen of the Badgers
Summary: The series of events that lead up to our favourite little evil genius, Tom Riddle, discovering the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets.
1. Chapter 1

_Ah, my first fic in the HP fandom to be based on my favourite character...Tom Marvolo Riddle. Yes, I know that he may seem rather OOC in this story, and you may think that the sentences are kind of long, but please try and read it to the end without falling asleep. I do try to make things interesting.  
Hey - wait. Wait! Where are you going? Come back! I didn't mean to put you off this story completely!  
Ahem...right, on with the story!  
_**Disclaimer: **No, I do not own anything to do with Harry Potter, I do not own JK Rowling, I do...not...own Tom Riddle. :sigh:

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**Tom Riddle and the Chamber of Secrets**

**Chapter 1: Of Escaping Slughorns and Eavesdropping Behind Cupboards**

It was in Tom's second year at Hogwarts that he came across a small huddle of very shifty-looking older Slytherins. Tom had been hiding from Slughorn, who had his mind set on cornering him and then telling the poor boy about all the students he had taught 'who had then gone on to accomplish great things and had become renowned and distinguished members of society'. Needless to say, Tom was not very keen on being bored out of his mind, and so he ran.

The group were huddled together in a corridor in the dungeons, their eyes darting from side to side in a shifty sort of way, and talking to each other in low, hushed voices. And, in Tom's opinion, altogether looking rather suspicious.

Pausing to catch his breath behind a large cupboard, after having run around practically the whole lower floor of the school from the crazed professor, Tom slid down the wall and crouched on the floor. He scratched his adorably pointy little nose and leaned his head against the cupboard. He waited tensely for Slughorn to pass by, and then was about to get up and make his way to the library, when he caught a snippet of what the little huddle of older pupils were saying.

"…Father says…found more information…Salazar…hidden Chamber…"

"Yes, I heard…uncle…Chamber of Secrets…Slytherin's heir…"

Tom, crouched in the shadows, tried desperately to make sense of what he was hearing, but the students were talking too quietly for him to hear. Dusting off his robes, he straightened and walked off in the opposite direction to where Slughorn had gone. The students glanced around furtively when they heard him approaching, but seeing his green and silver tie and realising that Tom posed no threat, nodded briefly to him and carried on with their conversation.

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_First chapter finished! It's quite short, compared to the never-ending novels I usually write (you won't find them posted on my account; I usually burn them and hide the ashes in a little bag in my wardrobe so they will never again see the light of day, or even worse...be read by Other People) but the chapters do get longer as the story progresses.  
This story is basically a series of snippets from the life of Tom Riddle, but only snippets which have to do with him discovering the Chamber of Secrets. In a girls' bathroom.  
Yes, I will be writing that bathroom scene. Yes, I will be posting it.  
But ickle Tommy is not only very OOC, but he is also only in his second year at this point, and the bathroom scene is in his fifth year, so... :cracks knuckles and stretches: you're in for a long wait._

_Yes, this chapter is pretty boring. I swear, things WILL actually happen in later chapters. Only I had to start with a boring introduction, just so you get to meet the characters, get a feel of what goes on at my version of Hogwarts, etc. _

Anyway, please please send me a review to tell me what you think of this fic. Any ideas for later chapters? I have got it all planned out, and a lot of it written, actually, butI always like hearing from reviewers.  
QoB


	2. Chapter 2

_Ooh, two chapters up in one day...I'm on a roll.  
_**Disclaimer: **Must I do this every single time I write a story? I shouldn't think that Rowling's lawyers search through every single HP fanfiction just to see if one person has :gasp: missed out a disclaimer, and then run off to sue said author.  
But still, I might as well do it. Don't want to be sued...just in case, no, I own none of the characters in the Harry Potter world, yes, I would like to, but yes, I also understand that they are purely fictional and are just figments of the great JK Rowling's imagination.

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**Tom Riddle and the Chamber of Secrets**

**Chapter 2: Of Dodgy Little Bookshops and Salazar Slytherin**

It was a few days before the start of term, and Tom Marvolo Riddle was wandering around Diagon Alley. In his hand was clutched the letter telling what books and equipment he would need for his third year. He was still not happy about having to always buy tattered old second-hand copies with the small grant he received from the school, but, he thought to himself with a shrug of his shoulders, better second-hand than nothing at all.

Passing wizards and witched looked curiously at this strange, pale, dark-haired boy who stalked along, staring down at the cobblestones and jerking his shoulders about for no apparent reason.

Tom walked, lost in thought, and eventually ended up wandering down a dark alleyway with a sign hanging over it that read, '_Knockturn Alley_'. Gradually growing aware of his dark, smoky surroundings, Tom stopped and looked around. Now this was definitely a part of Diagon Alley he had never been in before.

He walked to the nearest shop and tried to see what was inside. The shop window was grimy and smeared with a strange reddish-brown gloop, and it looked as if it hadn't been cleaned in years. Tom leaned as close to the window as he could without touching it with the end of his pointy little nose, and peered into the shop. There were strange things on its shelves, oddly shaped carvings, statues, and bottles in which floated what seemed to be random body parts, such as eyeballs and ears, and the like.

Tom was enthralled, as he had a fetish for these sort of dark things ever since that day in April in his first year…well, the door of the shop had a sign hung on it that read 'CLOSED', and so, dejectedly, Tom walked to the next shop. This was a bookshop, and since Tom loved books, he pushed open the door and stepped inside.

The first thing Tom noticed about the shop was the smell. It smelled awful. Even worse than the toilet in the orphanage, Tom noticed, and, holding his breath and trying not to look too disgusted, he walked over to a stack of books. They were all old and had mysterious stains on them, but, unlike his Hogwarts textbooks which were also very old and worn, these books reeked of evilness and had a very evil aura about them. Evil.

Tom was immediately drawn to the third book in the pile, as it was dark green with silver embellishment, and he had always loved the colours green and silver together. And they were his House colours.

Waving away the dust that rose up in a great cloud when he lifted up the book, Tom read the cover: '**Salazar Slytherin**'. Suddenly he felt as if the book was calling to him, beckoning him to read it, as a lot of clichéd and unoriginal storylines do. He opened the book, and perused it thoughtfully for a good half-hour or so, before his legs, trembling with the effort of having to stay in the same position for so long, finally gave way and he crumpled to the floor.

Yet another dust cloud rose, sending the wrinkled and beady-eyed shopkeeper, who had been watching Tom intently ever since he entered the shop, into a coughing fit. Scrambling up quickly, Tom dusted himself off and strode up to the old shopkeeper, and bought the book. Sure, he wouldn't have enough money to buy a new school hat, but he would never have worn it anyway, and they did look incredibly stupid – pointed hats '_with extra-wide brim_' looking smart and respectable, indeed. Tom left the shop, and the still coughing shopkeeper, and walked back into Diagon Alley.

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_Yes, the chapters are slowly getting longer. Yay! Please feel free to review and make a few comments on what you think of this story. Reviews much much appreciated.  
Does that make sense? Oh well...  
_QoB 


	3. Chapter 3

_Before I begin, I'd like to first thank all my lovely reviewers. __  
__THANK YOU!__  
__Replies to the reviews I got are somewhere at the end of the chapter. Hugs to the people who sent them!__  
__On with the story...oh - this chapter occurs in Tom's third year.__  
_**Disclaimer: **I _still _don't own anything HP-related. No Toms in my wardrobe, no Gaunts in my bathroom, no founders of Hogwarts under my bed. So ha.  
And for those who notice the two references to _The Lord of the Flies_ by William Golding...I don't own Ralph or any of his exclamations, either.

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**Tom Riddle and the Chamber of Secrets**

**Chapter 3: Of Voodoo Sketches and Family Trees**

The flames flickered in the fireplace. It was late, and few Slytherins remained in the common room, as most of them had gone to bed. A pale boy with abnormally long fingers turned a page of his thick, heavy-looking book, his little pointy nose almost touching the yellowing pages. He was deeply engrossed in the book, and there were bags under his eyes from staying up late at night to read it.

Despite always being tired, however, Tom Riddle carried himself in a different way now from how he was in the first year; he walked, talked and acted differently. He felt important, like he deserved respect, now. In the first year he had felt inferior because of his 'dirty blood'.

But he knew now that he was not a mudblood at all. He was a pureblood.

The very long family tree in the front of the book detailing the life and accomplishments of Salazar Slytherin had, to a very shocked Tom's delight, the names _'Marvolo Gaunt'_, _'Merope Gaunt'_ and _'Tom Marvolo Riddle'_ listed at the very bottom.

The day that he discovered that he was the heir of Slytherin was a very exciting day for Tom. He had been in a foul mood, having returned from a Transfiguration lesson with Dumbledore. Tom had been the first to master what Dumbledore had called 'an extremely difficult spell', and yet he had awarded Tom no house points – instead he had peered over his glasses and glared at Tom for about 5 minutes, before murmuring, 'Well done, Mr Riddle.'

And then the next person to do the spell, a filthy Gryffindor, was awarded 10 points! How outrageous was that! Tom was furious. As soon as the bell rang, signalling the end of morning lessons, Tom had pushed past the horde of students eager to get to lunch, and had stormed up to the library where he could sulk in a corner in peace.

Seething with anger, he had got out his quill and a pot of ink, and drawn a rough sketch of a stick-man with a pointed hat and a long beard that was at least twice the length of his body, and he then preceded to jab at this stick-man furiously, glowering at any passing students who were watching him with bemused looks on their faces, until all that was left of the parchment on which the stick-man was drawn was a black, hole-filled mushy lump on the desk.

Realising that he probably looked crazy, Tom had thrown away that parchment and took out his beloved Salazar Slytherin book. He did love that book. He opened it at where the red ribbon which served as a bookmark (he had received that ribbon as a Valentine's Day 'gift' last year from a blushing Hufflepuff first-year, much to his disgust; the poor girl's face was nearly as red as that ribbon) had been slipped into the book, and began to read.

On the next page was an extremely long family tree. Extremely long. He did not know why…perhaps he was just incredibly bored…but he decided to go through all the names in the tree and see whether he had heard of them or not. Yes, he had no life.

It took him the best part of his lunch hour, but he finally reached the bottom of the family tree, and the name he saw at the very bottom made him do a double take, just like in one of those terrible cheesy Muggle films. His eyes slowly grew wide. His mouth dropped open. His hand froze in mid-air. Could that be…it was.

'Tom Marvolo Riddle'

And Tom realised that _he_, the 'filthy mudblood' who 'disgraced the name of Slytherin'…was, in fact, a direct descendant of the great Salazar Slytherin himself. He was Slytherin's heir.

Tom leapt out of his seat and gathered his quill and ink, and the book, into his bag, and ran out of the library and down the corridor, whooping with joy.

"Woohoo!" he shouted, skipping with every third step. This earned him many strange looks from other students. "Wacco! Wizard!"

Giddy with excitement at all the things he could do, being Slytherin's heir, Tom expertly somersaulted down the steps of the school, something he had not known he could do before now. And the hissing he made when he was angry – of course! That was Parseltongue, the legendary talent Slytherin himself possessed. Tom ran around the grounds of Hogwarts for the remaining ten minutes or so of his lunch hour, searching for any little snakes he could have a decent conversation with, but to no avail.

Shuffling back to the school, a memory suddenly flashed through his mind. There had been a group of Slytherins standing in the corridor, talking amongst themselves…what had they been saying?

"_Yes, I heard…uncle…Chamber of Secrets…Slytherin's heir…"_

Tom stopped. What was this Chamber of Secrets? What did it have to do with being the heir of Slytherin? Tom remembered that his Salazar Slytherin book had also mentioned a secret Chamber under the school a few times. Could these Chambers be one and the same? Deep in thought, Tom picked up his schoolbag which he had dropped when he had somersaulted down the stairs earlier, and strolled back to the school.

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_Long chapter. Long sentences.__  
_**AceGray: **:sigh: Tis true, my sentences are long. Thanks for the nice review!  
**Kifujin no STRAWBERRY: **Excuse me? I do believe that Tom is MINE :flails arms wildly: Stop tackling me! I saw him first! (thanks for favouriting - is that a word? - my story, by the way – means a lot to me)  
**BAGGE: **Yay! I love getting reviews from you. You always write such great, intelligent comments. And you write brilliant stories yourself, so… :D Yes, I should hope that Tom is working his charm on you - he's the best person out of the HP books! I admit that he is rather out of character in my story, but this fic is not what I imagine Tom to be like. If he was real. I plan to write a more serious oneshot in the future, which portrays Tom as a slightly darker, more moody character, and follow the description of him that was given in the books. I doubt his nose will be as adorable and pointy in the oneshot.  
You like my writing style? You like my long sentences? Yay! One person who likes them! Thank you! And thank you for adding my stories to your list of favourites as well…makes me so happy... :sniff:  
Your idea about Tom and Myrtle being in the same bathroom for a reason - were you implying there was some sort of relationship between them? I suppose that is a valid idea - I've come across those sort of stories before, actually - but Tom would have been a fifth year Slytherin and Myrtle a third year...Ravenclaw, I think - soin my opinion,it wouldn't work out. Nice idea, though. I might just try writing a oneshot like that.  
**Deb-lil: **Ickle Tommykins…I just love the sound of that. I don't care whether I get crucio-ed or not, I'm still going to refer to him as ickle Tommy. Heh.  
Your school colours are Slytherin colours? Believe it or not, so are mine – green, black and white. Green blouse, black jumper with green and white at the edges, black skirt. Bleeurrghh. Green blouse. It's repulsive.  
Wow…you think I'm very amusing and highly funny/highly amusing and very funny? Again: wow. Most people just think I'm strange. I, on the other hand, like to think of myself as…different. Unique, individual. (In other words…insane.)  
Someone else who noticed his LPN! (I'm adopting that acronym now) Thank you for appreciating my weirdness.  
**wolfling: **You didn't review, but I can tell what you're thinking. glares And I do NOT sound like a rabid fangirl! Just because I imagine his nose to be small and pointy in this story (think Nick Hodgson from Kaiser Chiefs) does NOT mean I am rabid! Leave me alone:covers face with hands and sobs hysterically:  
Yes, you can be my beta if you want. Pfff. I give in – I need a beta. But please, don't muck up my stories too much.  
Haha, just kidding. I can't be bothered to have it beta-ed and scrutinised just yet. But when I can be bothered… :sigh: yes, _you_ may edit it.  
…I still don't like the comment about me being a rabid fangirl, though. _:(

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_ _And that's it for now! Reviews, as always, are welcome. Heh, I'll even accept FLAMES if there's a reason behind them and if they offer constructive criticism and such.  
No, I take back what I said. No flames, please. If you want to criticise, I won't mind if you do it politely. Constructive criticism always much appreciated. Thanks!  
_QoB 


	4. Chapter 4

_Another chapter up! Whooo!  
Thanks to my reviewers - every review I get makes me feel all...happy.  
_:D  
_Originally this chapter was twice the length it is now, but then I decided to split it up into two chapters. So the next chapter's already written and it will probably be submitted soon...if I can finish the fifty-gazillion essays I have to do over the week-end.  
Pff...don't expect the next chapter for another year or so.  
_**Disclaimer: If I am correct, this is FANFICTION-dot-net. Why would I be here to make money?  
(I'm already poor enough as it is, having lost most of my v. sad income- well, the Galleons, anyway ;) - in a bet. Sad, huh? I think the money's been divided up between three people... :shakes fist: and of course I blame it all on a certain someone who founded the FBQA in the first place. Who I share many similarities with, it seems. :o )  
**_To _BAGGE_: I've put some Myrtle in this chapter - and the next - for you. Enjoy!  
And I apologise for the mistake about 'Hope'. But now I know who she is, or at leasta bit about her - wow. That is CREEPY. An evil person inside...inside the mind of a little six-year old girl? Woah. Think of the destruction she could cause without anyone suspecting...she could MURDER people...ho hum. I'm getting creeped out already. Ooh..._

_

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_

**Tom Riddle and the Chamber of Secrets**

**Chapter 4: Of Crocodile-like Leers and Prefect Duties**

It was a warm day in early spring, and most students were outside, sitting on the grass and chatting animatedly about what they would do on the trip to Hogsmeade the next day.

Inside the castle, Tom Riddle strode down the dark corridors, his eyes scanning the walls and floors for any sign of a concealed entrance.

Nothing in the Charms corridor.

He crossed the Charms corridor off his ever-dwindling list of places a secret Chamber could be hidden in the school. He frowned at the parchment in his hand. The only places that were not crossed off the list were the teachers' offices (which he certainly did not want to go into except if there were no other possibilities – it was far too risky, he would be jeopardising the reputation he had worked so hard to achieve in the first place), Gryffindor Tower (he highly doubted it would be there) and – he scoffed at this – the lavatories.

He quickly tucked the parchment into his robe pocket when he heard footsteps approaching. It sounded as if the person was running. Tom leaned against a window, and pretended to be looking outside, trying to make himself inconspicuous, and watched out of the corner of his eye as a red-faced third-year girl ran past. Tears dripped down her cheeks from behind a pair of thick-rimmed round glasses and she made no effort to brush them away, even though Tom was sure that she could not see where she was going through her tears.

Tom watched her curiously, wondering how somebody could have so little shame that they could cry openly in public.

_Perhaps she's so miserable that she doesn't care whether she's seen or not anymore_, a little voice in his head said.

He could hear footsteps again, although this time there were definitely more of them. Tom leaned back against the window and stared outside. A group of four Slytherin and three Ravenclaw girls walked past, giggling in annoying high-pitched voices.

"That _Myrtle_ -"

"Ha! Four-eyed Myrtle!"

"Four-eyed, pug-nosed, wretched, moping, cry-baby -"

The apparent leader of the group, a tall Slytherin third-year girl Tom remembered as being called Olive Hornby (from the reputation she had already for being somewhat bitchy and a gossip), stopped when she saw Tom next to the window. A slow smile crept across her face. Perhaps her intention had been to smile attractively, flirtatiously – in Tom's opinion she resembled a rather sinister-looking crocodile.

"Well he_llo_, Mr Riddle," she breathed.

Tom cocked an eyebrow. His nose wrinkled at being addressed by that filthy Muggle name. He coughed. The way that girl was staring at him was really rather unnerving. But still – he had a reputation to uphold.

"Hornby," he nodded, clasping his hands behind his back.

One of the girls in the group squealed.

"So…how _are_ you today…Tom – do you mind if I call you that?" Olive continued, tossing her dead-dog brown hair behind a shoulder and leering at him.

Tom inwardly rolled his eyes. He'd had enough of this.

"I am fine, thank you. Now, if you ladies would excuse me, I have…business to attend to. Good-day to you all." He nodded again to them, and stalked off, making faces once he was facing the other way.

What a group. Sure, it was 1943 – girls were becoming more open, less reserved and more outgoing – but _those _girls! They disgraced the noble houses of Salazar Slytherin and Rowena Ravenclaw!

Shaking his head, Tom strode down the corridor again, pulling out the list again. It was going to be exceedingly difficult to check the teachers' offices and Gryffindor Tower. Tom had had no difficulty persuading the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs to let him into their Common Rooms – he always had been able to charm those he needed to. But the Gryffindors would be much more suspicious…

Tom decided that he would wait until night-time. As a Prefect he had to patrol the corridors every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday night. He would have a perfect excuse to be out around the school at night if he was caught. But of course, he would not be caught. After all, he was Tom Riddle. The sneakiest, most evil, smartest and most charismatic person in the school. Tom smiled to himself as he thought this, and resolved to return to his dormitory and get some sleep now before his night-time expedition.

And so it was that Tom Marvolo Riddle, model student, Slytherin Prefect Extraordinaire and object of a lot of the Hogwarts girls' affections (although he would never have realised the last bit), was wandering around a cold castle in the middle of the night. His shiny green and silver Prefect badge was fastened to his cloak, his wand in his robe pocket. Any passing teacher or student (or ghost, for that matter) would never have suspected that he was doing anything other than doing patrol.

But he was.

He walked up a flight of stairs and walked down the corridor, wondering _where_ Slytherin could have hidden his Chamber. Suddenly a thought struck him.

_I need the toilet._

His face burned. Surely going to the toilet like a regular, common person was below him? But it wasn't. With a sigh, he realised that he should not have drunk all that pumpkin juice at dinner. He continued down the corridor, hoping to come across a lavatory soon.

Myrtle was crouched on the floor of a cubicle in the toilets. She did not know how long she had been in here, sobbing and wishing she would die. Or that Olive Hornby and her group of followers would die. How she hated them! And how she hated herself…of course they teased her. With her ugly, fat face…huge thick spectacles…big fat behind…

She sniffed angrily and blew her nose. This afternoon they had cornered her after lunch, laughing and mocking her. All seven of them. If that Olive Hornby did something, you could be sure that all the rest would follow. Myrtle scowled just thinking about her. She despised her so much. Ever since Olive had purposely tripped her up as she tried to walk to the Sorting Hat when her name was called – the whole Hall had laughed at her – she had known that she was the type of person who would make her life at school a living hell. And she had.

Myrtle fiddled with the blue crest on her now creased robe. She had burst into tears at the girls' insults (she would have thought that she had become used to them by now, but the insults seemed to get worse each year) and ran into the first room she had come across. Luckily for her, it had been the toilets. Her only refuge. With a loud sigh, she leaned back against a cubicle wall. Her eyes closed, her hands relaxed and she nodded off to sleep.

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_...And this is where I leave you.  
Moohoohahahaha!  
You can tell what's going to happen, can't you? Or can't you? In which case you really haven't been reading carefully enough.  
:shrugs:  
Reviews, as ever, are much much much appreciated.  
Hint, hint. :wink wink:  
And constructive criticism (I love that phrase) also appreciated. So why not make me doubly happy and put constructive criticism...IN a review?  
Eh? How's THAT for an idea?  
Instead of sighing and rolling your eyes at the screen, you can tell ME what you think of this story! And then I can improve it. All it takes is that one click of an itty bitty blue button just there..._

_Okay, I TRIED to do an arrow. And failed miserably. You know which button I mean.  
_:D


	5. Chapter 5

_The chapter in which Tommy-boy finds the bathroom! Woohoo!  
_**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything HP-related. You know, at the cinema last weekend, I noticed the rather worrying number of people who own Gryffindor scarves. Yes, HP scarves. And actually wear them. Which is - well, I find it - quite scary. I suppose they just wanted to get into the spirit of things (GoF) but still - pff. Erm...no offence intended if you're one of those people.

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**Tom Riddle and the Chamber of Secrets**

**Chapter 5: Of Hidden Entrances and Secret Chambers**

A few minutes later, Tom Riddle saw a large door with a brass plaque saying 'BOYS' on his left, and he rejoiced. He was close to bursting – or at least, he felt like he was close to bursting. He rammed the door open with his shoulder and practically ran to the nearest cubicle, skidding on the puddle of water around the taps.

Myrtle stirred in her sleep. She had thought she had heard a loud bang, and she drowsily flexed her fingers and listened for that sound. Being half-asleep, she was too tired to concentrate on any one noise, and soon she fell asleep again.

Tom was at the sink, washing his hands. He had avoided the sink with the leaky tap around which water was seeping out. He reached out to turn off the tap, when he caught sight of a strange little shape etched onto the side. He frowned, and bent down to get a closer look.

It looked like a tiny snake. No detail was missed out; every scale had been carefully engraved into the tap, and its eyes seemed to glint in the pale moonlight. Something inside Tom stirred, and he scratched his still-adorable little nose and wondered if he should say something to it. _Why_ he should speak to this little carving he did not know – it was not even a real snake! But he did, and the word that came out of his mouth, without him even realising he was saying it, startled him.

"_Open,"_ he hissed in Parseltongue.

He blinked. Nothing happened.

Suddenly the floor beneath his feet shuddered, and the sink descended with a loud rumble into the ground, revealing a large gaping black hole where it had once been. Tom took a few steps back, his eyes wide and his mouth slightly open.

"It…it can't be…" he whispered hoarsely.

The great Salazar Slytherin surely would not have chosen a boys' lavatory to hide the entrance to his secret Chamber in. That was absurd!

_But then again, _Tom thought, _it is awfully clever. Nobody would ever suspect that it was in the toilets._

Taking a deep breath, his right hand in the robe pocket where he kept his wand, he stepped forward into the hole and plunged down into nothingness.

That is, until he fell with a nasty thump onto what seemed to be a pile of bones. He jumped up, startled, and his feet crunched on the 'floor'. He brought out his wand and said softly, "Lumos." Light shone out of the tip of his wand, and he checked his surroundings to make sure he was in no danger.

There was an archway to his right. He turned and stepped through it, his heart pounding in his ears. He could smell the damp walls. The place had obviously not been visited, or had a proper clean, for many decades. Perhaps even centuries, Tom thought with an excited shiver. If this truly was the Chamber of Secrets, he would be the only person who could enter. This could be his own private little haven – he could clean it, bring in cushions, sofas, perhaps even a bookshelf or two, and –

What was that noise? He span round quickly, his robes billowing out behind him. There it was again. He quickly made his way towards the source of this noise, noticing that he was walking down a long, narrow stone aisle which was surrounded by water on both sides, and that if he walked too far right or too far left, he would get very, very wet.

Tom carried on walking until the aisle became wider, becoming a platform of sorts, and he could see a tall stone wall that rose up to meet the ceiling. He gasped and took a small step back as he saw what had been carved into the wall. It was the face of Salazar Slytherin.

"Wow, he could…really do with shaving that moustache of his," Tom murmured, hoping that whatever lay in this Chamber would not be angry at him for disrespecting its master.

Suddenly he jumped as he heard that strange noise coming closer. But – it seemed to be coming from behind that wall. From behind Slytherin's face.

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_Just an in-betweenchapter. I feel bad for having not updated for ages...but real life gets in the way of posting stories. But a new chapter is here: ta-da!  
;feeble fanfare:  
Hm. Ah well. The next chapter will probably be up soon. ('soon' meaning in the next few years)  
Reviews, as always, much appreciated. So feel free to comment on my story - constructive criticism welcome.  
Thanks for reading! And thanks to my reviewers _:D _:glomps reviewers:  
_QoB 


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